Grading machine



Dec. 22, 1925. 1,566,277

0. H. HEATHER GRADING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1925 Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES HAROLD HEATHER,'OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR 'IO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GRADING MACHINE;

Application filed March 20, 1925. Serial No. 17,089.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. HEATHER, a subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, have invented certain Improvements in Grading Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is. a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. This invention relates to grading machines, that is to machines which operate upon or with respect to a .blank according to the extent of a selected characteristic of the blank, and is herein described as embodied in a machine which splits or marks, or performs both operations, upon a blank in accordance with the thinnest spot in a selected locality thereof.

A grading machine which splits and marks soles or similar blanks in accordance with the thinnest spot in a selected. locality of each blank fedto the machine is shown in United States Letters Patent No. 1,058,623, granted April 8, 1913, on application of Elmer P. Nichols. eral type are usually organized to mark and split the blanks in accordance with the smallest difference generallytaken into ac count in the soles of boo-ts and shoes, namel one-half an iron or of an inch. .Wlltl some kinds of work, however, it is undesirable to have the finished soles differ in thickness by so small an extent. It, may be, desirable, for example, to have the unit of difference one iron or more.

The general object of the present'invention is to provide a construction in which the size or extent of this unit of difference may readily be changed. In the illustrative ma chine the construction is such that manipulation of a conveniently accessible member may be caused to make an adjustment whereby the machine will grade the blanks by half irons or by Whole irons as may be desired.

This and other features of the invention will be described as embodied in an illustrative machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the accompanying drawnigs,

Figure l is a view in elevation of the splitting mechanism and part of the adjusting mechanism of a machine for splitting and Machines of this gen marking a blank in accordance with the thinnest spot in a selected locality thereof. Figure 2 is a plan of the two stepped wed es which are carried by each of the Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the two stepped wedges, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and of the corresponding wedge which cooperates with themto control the grading operation, the positions of the wedgesbeing such that the grading takes place by half irons; and I Figure 5 is a diagrammaticielevation similar to Fig. 4 but with one of the wedges adjusted so as to'cause the grading to take place by whole irons.

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the new construction, a brief general description of the patented machine will be given; and in order to promote brevity the splitting mechanism will be referred to but not the marking mechanisms, since both mechanisms are grading mechanisms and a description of either one of them will sufiice for the purpose of explaining the present invention. a

The patented machine may be said to comprise three mechanisms, a feeler mechanism, a splitting mechanismand an adjusting mechanism which latter is set in accordance with the determinations of the feeler mechanism so astocontrol, .in the desired manner, the operation of the splitting mechanism upon the blanks. The blanks are fed one by one to the feeler mechanism, a part of said mechanism being a feeler member which engages the blank on its under side and moves up and down as it encounters thinner or thicker spots in the blank. Throughout aselected locality of considerable extent in the blank, the downward movements of the feeler, in response to thicker spots, has no effect upon'the adjusting mechanism butupward movements of the feeler member in response to thinner spots affect the adjusting mechanism accordingly, the constructionof' the machine being suchthat the action of the feeler as to thinner spots in the blank is cumulative so that, at the end of the feeling operation,

the adjusting mechanism occupies a position corresponding to the thickness of the thinnest spot in the selected locality in the blank which was encountered by the feeling mechanism. The blank then passes to the splitting mechanism and is split or evened in accordance with this thickness.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the splitting mechanism of such a machine commonly comprises a knife, the edge of which is indicated by the line 77, a feed roll 9 which is held up by a strong spring (not shown) against a stop (also not shown) and a gage roll 13. The shaft 15 of the gage roll is mounted in bearings 17, 19 which are vertically slidable in ways formed in upright portions 21, 23 of the frame of the machine. Carried by these two bearings are two stepped wedge-stops 25, 27 which, in the patented machine, are each made of a single piece. necting portion 29 of the frame of the machine is a bar 31 to which are fast two stepped wedge-stops 33, 35. When a blank is presented to the feeler mechanism, the bar 31'is moved to the right a distance corresponding to the thickness of the leading end of the blank where it is engaged by the feeler mechanism. Thereafter, as the blank moves past the feeler mechanism, the bar 31 is moved tothe left, as thinner spots are encountered and finally occupies a position in which the wedge-stops 33, 35 are located above the wedge-stops 25, '27 a distance dependent upon the thickness of the thinnest spot in the blank which was encountered by the feeling mechanism. Thus the blank, when it is advanced and fed between the rolls 13 and 9, raises the gage roll 13 until the members of the two pairs of wedge-stops come into contact, and the blank is split or evened to the thickness of said thinnest spot. In the patented machine the steps on the wedge-stops are each half an iron in height, and consequently the blanks are split or evened to that unit of difference. As thus far described, the machine is or may be substantially like that of the patent to which reference is made for a more detailed description.

In the illustrative machine according to the present invention, the construction is such that the unit of difference may readily be changed so that the blanks may be split to differences of one iron 'orof one-half iron as may be desired. Tothis end the wedgestops 25 and 27 each comprises two wedges one of which is adjustable with respect to the other. Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, the wedge-stop, which is designated as a whole by 25 in Fig. l, is shown. This stop comprises two wedges $7, 39, the steps of the wedge 37 being one iron in height and of a given width, and the steps of the wedge 39 being half as high and half as wide as are the steps of the Slidable in a horizontal con-- hearing of the roll 13, but the wedge 39 is adjustable in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll 13.

The dual construction of the wedge-stop 25 has been described above. The wedgestop 27 is a duplicate of the wedge-stop 25; and the adjustable wedges of the two wedge-stops are connected by a rod 41, the left-hand end of which has a slot to receive a crank-pin 4&3 driven into the inner end of a rock-shaft 45, the outer end of said shaft carrying a handle 47 by which the shaft may be rocked. By this means the two adjustable wedges of the wedge-stops 25, 27 which have the half-iron steps formed upon them may be moved in unison.

Referring now to. Figs. i and 5, the effect of this adjustment is shown. Although the wedges shown in these figures have been given the same reference numerals as those of the preceding figures, it should be understood that Figs. 4 and 5 are purely diagram- .matic and illustrative, and that the size of the steps is greatly exaggerated and the number of steps much less than in the preceding figures. In these figures the observer is viewing the wedges with the adjustable wedge 39 exposed to view and the wedge 37 behind the wedge 39. Referring first to Fig. 5, the two wedges 37, 39 are in the same position v-rhich they occupy in Fig.

2, the steps of the wedge 37 being operative. In this position the machine will grade the blanks to full irons. In Fig. i, the wedge 39 has been adjusted to the right by turning the handle. i7, and the steps of the wedge 39 are operative. The machine will now grade the blanks to half irons. It is thus possible at any time to vary the unit of difference by which the blanks are graded, merely by manipulating the handle 47.

Although the invention has been described as embodied in a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited in the scope of its application to the particular machine which has been shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, grading mechanism constructed and arranged to. grade blanks by a predetermined unit of diflerence, and readily accessible operator-controlled means for changing the size of the unit.

2. A machine of the class described having, in combination, grading mechanism, a plurality of grade adjusting members adapted respectively to cause the grading to take place in accordance with units of difference of different sizes, and means whereby any selected grade adjusting member may be rendered operative.

3. A machine of the class described hav-' ing, in combination, grading mechanism, mechanism including stepped members for controlling the unit of difference by which the blanks are graded, and means whereby one of said members may be adjusted to change the size of the unit.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, grading mechanism, grade adjusting mechanism including a plurality of sets of stepped wedges, and means whereby selected sets may be rendered operative to cause the grading to take place in accordance with the unit of difference of the particular set which is rendered operative. g

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, grading mechanism including a roll adapted to be raised by the passage of a blank beneath it, bearings for the roll, two stepped wedges mounted rigidly one upon each bearing, two stepped wedges, the steps of which are difierentin height from those of the first two, mounted adjustably one upon each bearing, and means whereby the two last-named wedges may be adjusted in unison.

6. A machine of the class described having, in combination, grading mechanism including a roll adapted to be raised by the passage of a blank beneath it, bearing members for the roll, an adjustable bar member located above the bearing members, two stepped wedges mounted rigidly upon one of said members, a plurality of sets of stepped wedges mounted upon the other member, and means whereby one of the plurality of sets of wedges may be adjusted longitudinally of the roll axis.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES HAROLD HEATHER. 

